The indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse in the world, with thousands of separate communities and an estimated 800 languages spoken in the country. Many communities continue to live on subsistence agriculture in the isolated mountainous interior, although the presence of natural resources such as forests and mineral reserves in some indigenous areas has resulted in land grabbing, environmental devastation and other abuses. The country also faces governance challenges that persisted during 2014, with an arrest warrant issued by the national anti-corruption watchdog for Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for alleged fraudulent payments. O'Neill subsequently fired the deputy police commissioner and stopped the watchdog's funding, effectively bringing its activities to a halt.

The year 2014 saw the approval of Papua New Guinea's application for Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) candidate status. This was an important move for a country endowed with abundant natural resources, yet in which the UNDP estimates that 40 per cent of the population are living on less than US$1.25 a day. It is hoped that the initiative will improve relations between communities and development projects, as well as ensure that profits are transparently directed back to the country and its peoples. This is particularly the case for ExxonMobil's US$19 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, which began production in 2014. Nevertheless, rights violations against local communities continue to occur. In early 2015, for instance, 14 people, including 11 indigenous women and girls who were raped or violently molested at the Porgera Mine in the Papua New Guinea highlands, reached an out-of-court settlement with the world's biggest gold mining company, Barrick Gold. Apart from these victims, at least 120 women have lodged claims of rape at the mine.

Although Papua New Guinea is the least urbanized of the Pacific Island countries, with less than 13 per cent of the population living in urban areas, this figure is somewhat deceptive due to the country's large landmass. Papua New Guinea in fact has the largest urban population in the Pacific, while Port Moresby is the region's most sizeable city. This has also led to significant challenges, with some estimates suggesting that close to half of the city's population live in slums. Similar issues have affected other urban areas in the country, such as the coastal city of Lae, where an influx of migrants from rural areas in Mamose, the New Guinea islands and the Highlands Region has dramatically increased the size of its informal settlements. Though the government, through its National Urbanization Policy (NUP), has committed to improving infrastructure, services and urban management, serious problems persist.

One major challenge in urban areas of Papua New Guinea is violence. Urban conflict has increased as cities have become more ethnically diverse, with tribal fighting – a frequent issue between different ethnic groups in the country – now normalized in major urban centres. Furthermore, Port Moresby is also plagued by so-called 'rascalism'. This phenomenon, centring around youth gangs defined along community and cultural lines, has reinforced ethnic division in the capital. The decline of traditional conflict resolution systems, such as village courts, has meant that some communities have become more dependent on wantok for protection. Wantok – literally meaning 'one talk', someone who speaks the same language – previously served in part as a social support system among rural communities, but in Port Moresby and other urban areas it is frequently adapted to support identity-based criminal gangs, in the process deepening urban divisions. A particularly high-profile case of ethnic violence occurred in January 2011, when an argument between two men from different highland provinces led to an outbreak of fighting between factions of their communities that killed five people. Women are especially vulnerable in Port Moresby, as the city has high levels of sexual assault, domestic violence and rape.

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